More than 1,300 Kyrgyz prisoners have sewn their lips together as part of an ongoing protest at poor living conditions, say officials. "They are demanding that state prison authorities and guards stop beatings," a human rights official said.

Igor Kovalenko / EPA

A prison inmate has stiched his lips to protest against present living conditions at a prison in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Jan. 26, 2012. Prisoners took part in a prison revolt stitching up their mouths, demanding better living conditions.

One of the prisoners' demands is said to be the lifting of restrictions on their movement, but this demand was dismissed by the head of the penitentiary services, Sheishenbek Baizakov. Prisoners would no longer "be able to make fools of the guards", he said at a news conference in the capital Bishkek, according to AFP news agency. "Let them all sew shut their mouths."

Igor Kovalenko / EPA

Prison inmates, some of them showing stitched lips or cuts, talk to journalists to protest against present living conditions.

Vyacheslav Oseledko / AFP - Getty Images

Guards (L and R) and prisoners stand in a cell in a prison in the Kyrgyzstan's capital in Bishkek on Jan. 26, 2012.